


How to Spend a Day Off

by BritHistorian



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M, Picnics, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 17:18:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9133738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BritHistorian/pseuds/BritHistorian





	

Jayne stopped to wipe away the sweat that kept dripping into his eyes.  
  
"We been hikin' all gorram mornin'," he said. "Are you sure this is how you want to spend our day off?"  
  
From further up the trail, River turned and laughed at him. "There's a surprise for you at the end of the trail. Besides, Kaylee said it'd be fun."  
  
Jayne took a couple of steps toward her. "So you're takin' datin' advice from Kaylee now?"  
  
River closed the distance between them and laid her hand on his arm. "Would you rather I got advice from Simon?" she asked, her eyes twinkling mischievously.  
  
Jayne snorted. "Hell no. Then we'd never have any fun. Wouldn't mind if you got some advice from Inara, though. I'm sure she'd come up with something better than trampin' through the woods."  
  
River stretched up on tiptoes and kissed him on the nose. Staring deeply into his eyes, her face got very serious as she told him "You couldn't afford what Inara would tell me to charge you." Laughing, she ran back up the trail a bit. "Now hurry up - your surprise is just over this hill!"  
  
Jayne hurried after her, the backpack containing their picnic lunch digging into his back, his pistol slapping against his leg. Crazy woman had tried to talk him into coming out without a gun, and just to humor her he'd left Vera at home. But it wouldn't do to go out completely unarmed.  
  
When he reached the top of the hill, River was waiting for him. She grabbed him from behind and put her hands over his eyes. "Just a few more steps and you can see your surprise," she told him. "A few more steps" turned out to be about another quarter mile, made ever more awkward by the difference in their heights, and the fact that the backpack kept getting in the way. Finally, she said "Okay, you can look now!" and pulled her hands away.  
  
In front of them was the most beautiful lake Jayne had ever seen. The water was crystal clear at the edge, fading to a deep blue in the middle. At the other end, a brook tumbled over a small cliff into the lake, making a small waterfall the kept the water stirred and threw up a cloud of mist that made dozens of rainbows.  
  
"C'mon," River said, pulling the backpack off of Jayne's back, "it's time to go swimming." Digging through the pack, she pulled out a small bag and handed it to him. "Your swimsuit's in there. Now hurry up!"  
  
Jayne looked in the bag, growing increasingly puzzled. "But.. there's not... I don't... It's empty." He looked up just in time to see River throw her dress off over her head and jump into the lake. She dived under the water and came up about 20 feet from shore.  
  
"Of course it's empty." She called back. "You think we spent all gorram morning hiking through the wilderness away from everybody so you could wear clothes? Now, are you comin' in, or do I have come strip you down and throw you in?"  
  
Not that the idea of River forcibly stripping him didn't have its own sort of appeal, but she might accidentally damage some part that he might want to use again, so Jayne scrambled to get out of his clothes and dived into the water after her. The warm water felt great - the ship's calendar might say it was winter, but this planet apparently disagreed.  
  
Surfacing, Jayne looked around for River. "Copper for a kiss?" She nipped him on the earlobe and ran her hands over his body. "Ooh, but you don't appear to have any pockets, sir. I guess you'll just have to catch me!" She reached around and splashed water in his face, then swam off. By the time Jayne had cleared his eyes, River was on the other side of the lake. Jayne took off after her, his long strokes of his powerful arms pulling him quickly through the water. But just as he was about to grab her, she suddenly sank beneath the surface, swam underneath him, and reappeared off to the side.  
  
"You'll have to do better than that, dear," River teased, tossing her head and flinging water with her hair. Jayne took off after her again, only to once again have her evade him again. And again. And again...  
  
"You sure you ain't part mermaid?" Jayne asked, having once again failed to catch her.  
  
River laughed. "That mean you give up?"  
  
"Not hardly," Jayne responded, and set out across the pond again. He probably could have had her either of the last two passes, but he had held off, making sure he had the timing right. He counted his strokes, knowing he'd have to dive quickly in three... two... one... NOW!  
  
They both splashed to the surface, River spitting water and kind of unbalanced because Jayne was holding on to her ankle.  
  
"What do you plan on doing now?" River asked.  
  
"Well now," Jayne said, as he worked his way up her leg, "I seem to remember something about a kiss being promised."  
  
River stretched, catlike, and wrapped her arms and her free leg around Jayne. "I did promise that, didn't I?" She ran one small hand along his strong jaw.  
  
Speechless for once in his life, Jayne could only nod as he stared spellbound into her eyes.  
  
"Well," she said. "we can't have me breaking my promise can we?" She leaned in and, starting at one corner of his mouth, began planting a line of small, feathersoft kisses along the edge of his bottom lip.  When she reached the middle of his mouth, he had opened his mouth slightly and she was able to suck on his bottom lip, gently sucking and chewing it for a moment before deftly inserting her tongue into his mouth and covering his mouth with hers. By the time he realized he was kissing her on the mouth (or - more accurately - she was kissing him), he was enjoying it too much to care. He knew he'd found the exception to that rule, and he didn't plan on letting her go.  
  


* * *

  
Afterwards, they lay naked in the sun-warmed sand on the shore, Jayne cutting an apple into pieces and feeding it to them.  
  
"You know," River said between bites, "I checked with Mal before we left and we don't have to be back until sunset."  
  
"Yeah," Jayne said and he cut another slice off the apple, "that's why they call it a day off - 'cause you have to come back when the day is over."  
  
"Apparently the captain wasn't thinking when he told us that."  
  
Jayne handed her another slice of apple. "Well, Mal not thinkin' ain't exactly news. But what makes you say that this time?"  
  
A smile spread across River's face, and her eyes sparkled. "I checked the computer before we left - the days on this planet are 32.57 hours long. We've got time for another swim."  
  
As she moved to get up, Jayne quickly set aside the knife, grabbed her by the hip, and pulled her down on top of him. "Or we could just assume I've already caught you and take it from there."  
  
Positioning herself comfortably astride him, River leaned down to kiss him again. "That'll work too," she said, when she came up for air.


End file.
